Brokers report that the Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has offloaded its first bulker of the year, joining a string of other Japanese top owners shedding ships fast in a sluggish market.

The seven-year-old 54,000dwt Kawasaki-built Calypso Colossus fetched a similar price to the US$8m that online portal VesselsValue.com sets for such a ship.